Method of making slip lasted welt shoes



\ J. MELTZER METHOD OF MAKING SLIP LASTED WELT SHOES Feb. 8, 194 9.

Filed March 25, 1948 Patented Feb. 8, 1949 METHOD or MAKING sLIr-LA s'rEn WELT snonsv Jack Meltzer, New. York, NY. Application March 25, 1948, SerialNo. 17-;09'2

1 Claim. 1

My present invention relates generally to shoes, and has particular reference to an improved construction of the slip-lasted variety and to a method' of making it.

A general object of'the invention is to provide an improved footwear construction. which is simple and" inexpensive, which is suitable. for the creation of a large variety of shoes, slippers, sandals and similar items intended for either street wear or for indoor use, which is adapted eral objectsand' advantages, and such'otherob tutor-m an article-of unusually staunch yet comjfictfii a ad a -S s may hereinafter pp fortable wearing qualities, and which lends itself orb'e pointed out;.ar.e1i11ustrative1y exemplified" in: readily to the employment of various ornamental the accompanying drawings; in' which: materials and tonumerous variations in style. Fi -1' is a p rspective-view of ashoeconstruct- A more particular object is to impart these ed in accordance.withthe.present invention; qualities to an article of footwear which is of 2 is a a' eratcd'cross scctional. View thewell-known slip-lasted type in which there taken bstanti lly'alqn the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; is a socklining of t e t t q type, d t Figs. 3 and i.a're'wiews similar to Fig; 2, illuscombine the advantages and low'expense of the trailing modifications; and. r slip-last-ing procedure and the slip-lasted product i 51s a perspe i e iew f a illustrativev with theadvantages or a pre-welt'ed shoe. reinforcement.

Thepresent improved shoe comprises an upper, Th6 improved p fid e can be readily a socklining, a welt strip carried by the upper, p y referencetOFig- S first S p; an and an outer sole. The upper may consist of a I pp a socklining Welt Strip single ply of material, or of two plies defining a, are stitcheditogetheit as-at |3..'I'11- SOCk-1iI1il'1gll downwardly opening pocket b er, w e9 11 them iS' arranged" With its (TOD surfacelying next-t0 the adapted to accommodate a reinforcement. The fB 1711911191381 The Well? p 12 welt striprnay be stitched directly to the upper, s arranged w ht'st p surfa l y ne next to the or may be carried by the upper with the aid of 0111781 Surface pp I01 Wh e I have an intermediate platform cover. The socklining shown one t f s i es" 3 simultaneously is i neatly tit engagement, t t upper connecting bothzt'he. socklining H and the welt and the outer sole is in stitched. association with Strip I2 130 the 1 1 it Will be understood the welt strip. that this preliminary assembly of parts may be A particular feature of the invention res-ides in accomplished, if desil'd; -separate steps wherethe association'of the parts in such a mannerthat 0116 S t Of stitches secures: the socklini t0 the upper is provided with a lasting all wa the upper, while. another set of stitches secures or-anchoring extension by means of which I am the W811; Strip 130113119 ppe enabled not only to lit the uppermore accurately TIIE' line? '01 nes of stitching l3, it will be and neatly to a last, but also to anchor the upper noted, are spacedvapplficiaibly wardlyfrom the it unusual firmn and permanenc to the 40 lower edge M of the upper. This provides a deundel. structure of Shoe sirable-lasting' allowance on thei'upper.

In all embodiments of the invention, it is a h the'assembled-parts'are'applied 35 characterizing feature to stitch the soclslining to this: latmg allowance: t pulledmmihe ram-101.1" the upper along a line appreciably spaced from Shlp snowman? adhgslyely Securedlt? the undgr' the lower ed I surface: of the socklinmg IL. In this way, the

- ge of the upper. Where the upper is b 4 11 formed of separate inner and outer plies, the $23335 gg ai socklining is stitched. only to the inner ply, thus '5 is then g g i sfi i g gg gz ggg t the added s allowmg; P le-insubstantialalignment'withfthe' outer edge insertion of a counter into sandwiched position between thetwo plies.

In one'embodiment of. the; invention, the welt strip is stitched directly to. the upper, or to the outer-"ply of the-upper where a two-ply is. used. In a modified construction, the welt strip is carried: by the upper through the medium of a platform cover.

Thepresent procedureis simple, efficient, inexpensive, and requires no special skill on the. part of the operator. The resultant article of. footwear is unusually' comfortable, attractive in appearance; and capable of withstanding long usage;

Several ways of achieving the: foregoing gen.-

ofthe welt strip? l2. Suitable" adhesive may be used to hold: the outer. sole in'position. Then the structure is; removed from the last,.and.the welt stripis; secureidito' the marginal partof' the'outer sole by means of stitches I].

Int carrying: out: this general-z procedure, it will be understood that the various layers are brought into closely superposed relationship, with no appreciable gaps between them. The gaps showing in Fig.2 (and also in Figs. 3 and 4) are the result of the fact that the drawings show the parts in an exaggerated manner, for the sake of clearness. In any case, a layer or layers of filler material such as that shown at l8 in Fig. 2 may be employed wherever their use appears to be expedient. These fillers may be merely layers of cement, or thin pieces of cardboard, or the like.

In the illustrated shoe, which is merely one example of a large variety of footwear items to which the present invention is applicable, the relationship of parts shown in Fig. 2 extends completely around the toe and yamp portions of the shoe, but terminates in the heel region. This is because the shoe chosen for illustration is of the type in which the upper i terminates at the rear in a strap-like extension 59 elevated from the level of the heel. In a shoe of this particular kind, the heel 26 may be of any desired kind, and applied in any Well-known manner. Usually, the heel seat cover 2! is adhesively applied to its top surface.

It will be understood, however, that the procedure hereinbefore described, and the assembly of parts illustrated in Fig. 2, may apply to all or any desired part of the shoe periphery. For example, in "certain types of shoes, the association of the upper with the socklining, welt strip, and outer sole, as shown in Fig. 2, may be used even in the heel region of the shoe.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a modification in which the welt strip 22 is carried by the upper 23 through the medium of a platform cover or wrapper 24. In this modified construction and procedure, a sooklining 25 is stitched to the upper 23, as before, with its top surface lying next to the inner surface of the upper. By the same line of stitches 25, or by a separate line of stitching, the platform cover 2% is also secured to the upper 23, the outer surface of the cover 24 lying next to the outer surface of the'upper 23. Also, as in the procedure hereinbefore described, the line or lines of stitching 28 are spaced appreciably inwardly fIOmthB lower edge 2'! of the upper, thereby providing a lasting allowance.

Before this assembly is applied to a last, the welt strip 22 is stitched to the free margin of the platform'cover 24, by a line of stitching 28.

The structure is then applied to a last, and the upper is fitted to the last by pulling upon the lasting allowance, which brings the parts into therelationshlp shown. Adhesive means are employed for securing the turned-in margin of the upper to the under surface of the socklining 25. A platform sole or pad 29 is then applied to the last, and preferably held in position by adhesive. The platform cover 24 is then pulled over the margin of the platform sole 29, and held down by adhesive. Then the outer sole so is applied, adhesively secured in position, with its peripheral edge 31 in substantial alignment with the outer edge of the welt strip 22. Finally, the parts are removed from the last, and stitching 32 is caused to secure the welt strip 22 to the marginal part of the outer sole 3!).

As hereinbefore mentioned, this construction may be coextensive with the entire periphery of the shoe, or with any selected part of it.

In each of Figs. 2 and 3 I have chosen to illustrate a procedure and construction in which the upper consists of a single ply of material. It will be understood that the single plies shown at In and 23 may actually consist of two or more plies adhesively secured together, and treated as a single layer. Under certain circumstances, it is desirable to provide the upper of a two-ply construction in which the plies are secured together only along the top periphery of the upper, thus leaving a space between them. This I have shown in Fig. 4 in which the upper consists of the outer ply 33 and the inner ply or lining at.

In carrying out the procedure shown in Fig. 4, the parts 33 and 34 are first secured together (as by stitching, not shown) along the top peripheral edge of the upper. The socklining 35 is then stitched, as at 35, to the inner ply 3 with the top surface of the socklining lying against the inner surface of the ply 34. similarly, a welt strip 31 is secured, as at 38, to the outer ply 33, with the top surface of the welt strip lying against the outer surface of the ply 33. As in the previously-described constructions, the lines of stitching 35 and 38 are spaced appreciably inwardly from the lower edge 39 of the outer ply 33, thus providing a lasting allowance. Although I have shown the outer ply 33 as the one which is provided with the lasting allowance, it will be understood that the inner ply 33 may also have a marginal extension beyond the stitches 35.

The advantage of this construction lies in the fact that the space between the plies 33 and 3% may be utilized to accommodate a suitable reinforcement. For example, a box toe reinforcement as, such as that shown by itself in Fig. 5, may be fitted into this space. This sandwiching of the reinforcement between the plies 33 and 34 may be accomplished either before or after the assembly is applied to the last. In either case, when the assembly has been lasted, the marginal extension of the outer ply 33 is pulled over the last and adhesively secured in position; or if both the outer and inner plies are provided with lasting allowances, the marginal extension of the inner ply 3% is first pulled over the last and adhesively secured, and subsequently the marginal lasting allowance on the outer ply 33 is pulled over the last and glued down. This fits the upper neatly and accurately to the con toured part of the last. a r

In Fig. 4, the gap between this turned-in part of the ply 33 and the socklining 35 is quite conspicuous, but, as hereinbefore mentioned, this is merely the result of the exaggerated showing of how the parts are secured to one another. In actual practise, the overlying parts on the top surface of the last are in closely superposed relationship, with or without such filler layers as may be deemed desirable. In fact, in this specification, and in the appended claim, where reference is made to the securement of the lasting allowance to the under surface of the socklining, it is to be understood that the securement may be one which is direct to the socklining, or one which is to a filler, such as that indicated at 58 in Fig. 2. As one of the concluding steps, the outer sole H is adhesively secured to the lasted assembly, with its outer edge 82 in substantial alignment with the free edge of the welt strip 3?. Then, when the assembly is removed from the last, a line of stitching i3 is caused to secure the welt strip to the marginal part of the outer sole ii.

By the term outer'sole, as used herein and in the appended claim, it will be understood that reference is made to the sole to which a welt strip isflnally stitched, in each case. I have illustratively shown a box toe reinforcement Ml lying between the plies of the upper, in

Fig. 4. The same relationship of parts would exist in the heel region of the shoe, in conjunction with a conventional heel counter, if the procedure and assembly shown in Fig. 4 is resorted to in the heel region of the shoe.

Obviously, the platform sole of Fig. 3 may be employed with a shoe constructed as in Fig. i,

by the simple expedient of attaching the welt strip 31 to a platform cover rather than attaching it directly to the outer ply 33 of the upper, as shown.

The advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The simplicity, neatness, comfort, and low expense of the slip lasting procedure are achieved; while at the same time the outer sole is firmly held in position in the advantageous manner afforded by a welt strip. Relatively little skill is required in carrying out the procedure, yet uniformly Workmanlike results can be reliably accomplished, with the upper fitting accurately to the last, and with the upper being securely anchored in position as a result of the anchoring extension or lasting allowance which lies in tensioned condition beneath the socklining.

In general, it will be understood that those skilled in the art may readily make changes in the details herein described and illustrated without necessarily departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In the making of a shoe, the steps which consist in stitching a socklining and a platform cover to an upper with the top surface of the socklining and the outer surface of the platform cover lying next to the inner and outer surfaces, respectively, of the upper and with the line or lines of stitching spaced appreciably inwardly from the lower edge of the upper so as to provide a lasting allowance on the upper, stitching a welt strip to the free margin of said platform cover with the top surface of the welt strip lying next to the outer surface of said platform cover, applying said assembly to a last and fitting the upper to the last by pulling upon said lasting allowance and adhesively securing it to the under surface of the socklining, applying to said assembly a platform sole and securing it in position by pulling said platform cover around it and adhesively securing the pulled margin of said platform cover to the under surface of said platform scla'adhesively securing an outer sole to said assembly with the edge of said outer sole in substantial alignment with the outer edge of said welt strip, and stitching said welt strip to the marginal part of said outer sole.

JACK MEL'I'ZER,

REFERENCES CITED The fOHOWill" references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,288,200 Richard Dec. 17, 1918 1,574,028 Graber Feb. 23, 1926 1,643,678 Peer Sept. 27, 1927 2,377,570 Ivioskowitz June 5, 1945 2,401,089 Manahan May 28, 1946 2,e04,150 W'alsh July 16, 1946 2,404,587 Maling July 23, 1946 2,427,179 Ayers Sept. 9, 1947 2,428,862 Weinbrot Oct. 14, 1947 2,446,236 Kamborian Aug. 3, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 118,359 Australia Apr. 5, 1944 405,625 Great Britain Feb. 2, 1934 

